and they're expected to grill brennan about the subject on thursday when he appears before the senate intelligence committee at his confirmation hearing to be the next cia director. brian? >> michael isikoff who broke this story in our d.c. newsroom for us tonight. michael, thanks. >>> on the domestic front, ever since the housing crisis that started the meltdown of the u.s. economy, a lot of americans have been waiting to see who would be held accountable. who would pay a price for what was done to our economy? today, the justice department announced it's going after one player, the huge credit rating agency s&p. it's a big case that could result in a big fine, but some are also wondering if revenge isn't a motive here because the s&p, after all, lowered the u.s. credit rating after the fiscal cliff debacle. our report on all of it tonight from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> reporter: the justice department and a dozen states today accused the world's largest credit rating agency, standard & poor's, or s&p, of endorsing investments that it knew were shaky, playing a dire